Had a blast watching it. Love the psychology of Lesnar attacking the arm all match and the way they implemented the abdominal injury with Lesnar. The physicality with HHH's knees to the gut was great too. I thought the intensity was on point and well built from the deliberate pace they set and the aura provided by Lesnar. I have no complaints with the finish. I love it. ****

Also, Finlay vs. Tajiri, SMASH 02/19

I've admired Tajiri and Finlay's work for years now and here, in 2012, both men looked excellent here. I loved Tajiri's submissions targeting Finlay's legs early in the match which he later in the match attacked again with those vicious kicks. That to me really displayed a great game of chest Tajiri had in mind to pick apart the body part he knew could help him in the long stretch of the match when he ultimately would decide to bring out the big guns with those kicks. Finlay was so great dominating with his holds on the ground. I really dug how he managed to quickly shut down Tajiri's furious offense at almost every turn. The Tarantula and Tombstone teases were effectively built thrill moments for me. I really like how big of a deal those moves came across even when they weren't executed. The false finish and actual finish were immense. Where the hell did he put that shillelagh? Man was that finish good. I don't want to spoil it. After the match they had an emotional moment. I knew nothing about this promotion before I watched this match and I could sense how much it meant to Tajiri.

The goods of what's available IN FULL of the G1 so far, so not the slightly clipped final (amazing as it appears to be)

From 8/4 and 8/10 (The J SPORTS A.K.A. The B Shows)

Best matches:
1. Kojima vs Suzuki ****+ - Pretty damn good match, this. Vintage MiSu as a shit disturber rather than a "heat heel" and somehow not a "Kojima match" even though it had all the ingredients.
2. Nagata vs Marufuji **** - Interpromotional Nagata and smarter, slower, better, heavyweight Marufuji as I figured he would be. The leg work went nowhere but that's my only complaint.
3. Tanahashi vs Yujiro ***3/4 - This did so much to establish Yujiro. Great work by Tanahashi. I'm really digging this new Yujiro, except that this match suffers from his 90% of normal match speed pacing problem.
4. Tanahashi vs Kojima ***3/4 - These guys doing what they do, only Tanahashi being better than usual and Kojima being worse. I really liked Kojima's transition into his first neckbreaker.
5. Nakamura vs Archer ***1/2 - This wound up being awesome after a shaky start. When crickets sound after Shinsuke's running corner knee to the gut, you can see him make the decision to give it his all, and all of a sudden (not unlike Ishii in the Goto match!) it gets reaaaally good.

I've admired Tajiri and Finlay's work for years now and here, in 2012, both men looked excellent here. I loved Tajiri's submissions targeting Finlay's legs early in the match which he later in the match attacked again with those vicious kicks. That to me really displayed a great game of chest Tajiri had in mind to pick apart the body part he knew could help him in the long stretch of the match when he ultimately would decide to bring out the big guns with those kicks. Finlay was so great dominating with his holds on the ground. I really dug how he managed to quickly shut down Tajiri's furious offense at almost every turn. The Tarantula and Tombstone teases were effectively built thrill moments for me. I really like how big of a deal those moves came across even when they weren't executed. The false finish and actual finish were immense. Where the hell did he put that shillelagh? Man was that finish good. I don't want to spoil it. After the match they had an emotional moment. I knew nothing about this promotion before I watched this match and I could sense how much it meant to Tajiri.

Best puro match of the year so far for me, admittely my interest in New Japan, NOAH and BJW isn't strong so I haven't watched much but short of Okada/Naito or some random Ishikawa/Ikeda match turning up I can't see this being overtaken. You pretty much covered what was great, Finlay's selling of the kicks was some of the best I've seen someone sell Tajiri's strikes and seeing him quickly lock in a submission and then rub and feel his injured leg was just such a cool little touch that you expect in Finlay matches. Big spots in the match where well timed, the Tarantula counter was sublime and the finishing stretch dramatic and defiant but without pointless overkill or no-selling.

I wrote about it in here a while back:

Quote:

Tajiri v Finlay, SMASH (2/19/12)

Really enjoyed this, and of the limited puro I've seen this year its comfortably #1 for me so far. Just a very well paced and built match, featuring some really intense matwork at the beginning which builds and builds and features some great struggles from both men to get into a dominant position, and they break up the matwork into Tajiri's kicks wonderfully and Finlay really makes sure to sell them as well as anyone I've seen. He just has this great panicked reaction where you can see him jump backwards from each kick and try to block the next one, and the spot where Tajiri finally picks a spot after a good 6/7 minutes of choice grappling and lands a few kicks to the thigh of Finlay, only for Finlay to instinctively counter into a drop toe hold and then RUB the thigh where the kicks landed whilst attempting a submission was just another smart touch that you expect from Finlay matches. Really thought the whole cautious and tentative nature with which they entered the grappling really added to whenever one would attempt a strike or signature move, you could feel the tension bubbling with each exchange ending in a stalemate and again enough good words can't be said about Finlay's selling of the kicks: whether he falls on his arse, tumbles out of the ring or just hobbles hopelessly away, you always sense the kicks are something he can't cope with and Tajiri only being able to land a few of them before Finlay finds a way to keep control really makes you eager for the moment where Tajiri can get sustained control and really hurt Finlay. Finlay was super with his taunts to the crowd and just general demeanour, and I loved him having a counter for Tajiri's offence, particularly the tarantula counter and subsequent headbutts, just ruthless and vicious and awesome all at once. Celtic Cross being thrown out mid match was a bit of a suprise, I gather the Tombstone has been his finisher in Japan, but it was still a little weird to see a move you associated as a match ender in WWE be tossed out mid match with little build: it did show Finlay wanted to end it there and then, but the way there wasn't much of a reaction to the kickout from the crowd or Finlay just further added to the confusion in it being executed there and then. Finishing stretch was wonderful in its simplicity, Tajiri finally gets momentum and uses the kicks again to hurt Finlay and the moment he finally reels off a buzzsaw kick to the head feels like a spot the crowd has been waiting for the entire match. I also really loved the struggle and tease of Tajiri being able to block the Tombstone for a second time...only for Finlay to finally catch him and end the match there and then.

Both men had some brilliant facial expressions, especially Tajiri whilst being worked over, and the whole aura of tension from each lockup to Finlay throwing sweat at Tajiri only for Tajiri to casually flick it onto the ropes with this great cold expression was glorious. Both men built superbly to the explosion of signature offence, Finlay added some amazing simplistic touches that no-one else will recreate this year (drop toe hold struggle for example) and overall it was just a really simple and nice match that focused on build and pacing towards the finish, and its a damn shame that I'll be lucky to see maybe 5 matches from Japan this year that will work a match similar to this. One of my favourite matches from Finlay's Indy/Japan tour.

BxB Hulk vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Naruki Doi vs. Masato Yoshino vs. Shingo vs. Yamato (Dragon Gate Infinity 261): This is a battle royal of sorts to determine Cima's next challenger. Elimination is by pinfall, submission or (from 10 minutes in) over the top rope. The dynamic here is great - essentially you have three rival tag teams, but alliances fly out of the window from the get go. As you'd imagine, the action is thick & fast with some amazingly creative combinations, double-crosses, near-falls & elimination teases. Definitely the most relentlessly exciting match I've seen this year ****1/4+